CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2012, aka Gadget Country, features every new electronic device you can imagine. We had a blast talking with the realistic, life-sized robots. Celebrities, like Justin Bieber, Tom Hanks, Jillian Michaels and – everybody’s favorite tech guru — Snooki, flocked to the event to help launch and promote products. One of the coolest products we saw was Sphero, a ball that you control with your iPhone or Android, a combination of real life and gaming all in one. The air was energetic as tech bloggers, media personalities and taste makers clamored to get a hands-on experience with all of this year’s newest gadgets.

The automotive world had a huge presence: electric cars with iPad sound systems and trunk-mounted flat screen TVs while Mercedes, Audi, Ford and Kia were showing off their latest concept cars. ESPN featured a live boxing match that streamed to their website. Our favorite, however, was Samsung’s movie-theater-sized 3D screen — it was so realistic we were dodging soccer balls during the demo.

When CES closed their doors, it was time for the after parties! Both Ludacris (Haze Party) and Dr. Dre (Monster Party) represented their headphone lines — the craziest was Will.i.am DJing at Haze, literally thousands of fans tried to get in. Afterward, we swung by a few small, private parties where we got to meet legendary producers Rick Rubin (Beastie Boys, Run DMC, Red Hot Chilli Peppers), Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (Janet Jackson, Prince, Earth Wind and Fire).

The Las Vegas Convention Center was filled with thousands of product booths, keynote speakers and panels during CES. It was a real-life playground for adults to come, discover and play with all the new and upcoming products!

What Is Foil Stamping?

Foil stamping combines an etched die stamp, paper, foil and heat.  Foil is pressed between the heated die and paper, the heat releases the colored layer of the foil and binds it to the paper creating a finished custom shape. There is a slight indent from the stamping process, but the final piece is still relatively flat. Embossing can be included, which indents the paper to create a 3-D shape. Foil stamping can also be referred to as hot stamping, blocking, flat stamping, dry stamping, leafing or gold leaf.  Foils range in multiple color and pattern options from a shiny metallic, to a holographic pattern, opaque or matte color, pearlescent or even a clear foil!

 The Process

• Artwork Submission: Send us your design for foil stamping and print.
• Custom Die Creation: Once we receive your artwork – detailing the areas that you would like foil stamped – we create a custom die to match that shape. This will be the area that receives the foil color of your choice.
• Print Set Up: We prep your order, taking into consideration the special requirements for the foil stamping machines, such as the guide and gripper for the paper to feed into the foil stamping press.
• Card Printing: The postcard is printed with our standard offset, full color process and trimmed to size, including the gripper.
• Foil Stamping: The printed sheet is fed into the foil stamping machine where the foil is adhered to the paper.
• Final Trim: Your stamped card is then trimmed down to your finished size and shipped out!

Foil stamping has evolved through history to become the stamping process that we know today but can you imagine adding gold foil to your designated areas by hand, like they did in the Middle Ages? Did you know that the manufactured process for synthetic “gold leaf” or foil stamping began in the late nineteenth century in Germany? Luckily for us the process has become easier and more cost effective for our modern age and we look forward to the future evolution of foil stamping making it even more affordable and easier to produce.

 

• Die Stamping An intaglio process for printing where lettering, and other designs, are engraved into copper or steel plates.
• Embossing Impressing an image in relief to achieve a raised surface. Ink can be printed on top of the embossed area (a registered emboss) or the embossed area can be blank (a blind emboss). Emboss refers to the raised image surface. The opposite, a deboss, refers to an image lowered into the surface.
• Gripper Edge The leading edge of paper as it passes through a printed press.
• Guide The guide for the machine needs a true straight edge to insure registration between the foil and printing.

What an amazing feeling to gather so much support for these wonderful charities and for Cleveland!

ORANJE is an interactive event that showcases contemporary art and music within a stimulating, urban setting. In 2002, Adam Crockett and Ryan Hickey’s shared passion for art, music, experience and creativity gave birth to the first ORANJE; ten years later, it has grown into a regional powerhouse. ORANJE has showcased the talents of 250 fine artists, 125 musicians and 30 independent film makers; and, boasts an annual attendance of more than 3000!

Indy-based, full-service agency Matchbook Creative  were the brains and brawn behind the silver-and-orange themed 2011 collateral. They’ve worked with ORANJE for a number of years and devised the clean design — along with an eye-catching color scheme of Pantone Silver 877 C Spot color and bright CMYK orange — to celebrate ORANJE’s tenth anniversary. Matchbook did a phenomenal job promoting the event with promo postcards and posters; a limited-edition poster; 18-page onsite guide book; tickets with numbering; official ORANJE t-shirts; and custom VIP passes.

Our booth saw lots of traffic throughout the day, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t slink away to check out Indiana’s finest (and stuff our faces with Natalie Pipkin’s awesome mini cheesecakes from The Mini Bar).

Take a peek, here’s a few of the über talented people:

• Great art was everywhere, like, Jonathan Foerster’s otherworldly compositions, Kyle Spear’s unbelievable photography, Justin Schwab’s studies on time, and we’re now the proud owners of one of Cameron Oehler’s Triforce End-Grain Cutting Boards because… well, because it’s Zelda, that’s why.
• We can’t forget the bands! With so many fantastic musicians it felt like a certain Alfred Hitchcock flick: Irene & Reed’s sultry piano pop; new new wave Beta Male; Indy’s Paramore-esqe Neon Love Life; and the quirky jascha. were some of the acts we had the chance to catch while running around; definitely check ‘em out!
• Dan Trachtenberg’s Portal: No Escape had the internet buzzing a few weeks ago, but seeing it on the big screen was unforgettable.

Can’t wait for ORANJE 2012!

We are happy to say that, despite the oppressive heat, Jak Of All Trades Fest rocked Cleveland this past Labor Day Weekend. We packed our one-day event with all things Jak and perfectly represented our love of skateboarding, art, music, fashion and bicycles. Local food trucks served up their best dishes while our complimentary beer and water kept more than 1500 attendees cool. There is no way we could have pulled off the event without the help of our headlining sponsor HP, our media sponsor Scene Magazine, our event coordinator Angela Hetrick, over 80 local sponsors or all of the amazing models and volunteers.

Skateboarding

Spectators and skaters alike enjoyed our skateboarding street course, while DJ’s Rob Ortenzi and Mister Bradley P provided the soundtrack. We collaborated with Public Square Group on a green-screen photo booth to help raise money for Crooked River Skate Park – bringing in more than $700 to help fund Cleveland’s very own world-class skate park!

Vendor Village

The Vendor Village was abuzz with visitors and vendors. Just to name a few: We had Atom Bomb Tattoo and Voodoo Monkey Tattoo available for walk-up consultations, while Foodgazi, Little Korboose, Scene Magazine and Washington, D.C., guest Sarkhead displayed their products and services. The savior of the day was Big Fun; their box full of squirt guns, enjoyed by young and old, was definitely a relief in the hot sun!

Art Mural + Acitvities

A big thank you to Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School for their event; Faber-Castell for the amazing Interactive Art Tent; all the artists that contributed to The William Rupnik Gallery Live Mural Art Installation sponsored by Fifth Third Bank; and Millcraft Paper Co. for providing the semi-truck for our art gallery that showcased many of our talented employees, customers and friends.

Tours

More then 500 people got a behind-the-scenes look at what makes Jakprints tick. We gave away 700 event shirts showcasing our exclusive soft vibrant inks with a 10-color print.  If you didn’t have a chance to take a tour, give us a call — we’d love to show you around!

Fashion Show

Without a doubt, our fashion show was the highlight of the day. More than 125 people watched our outstanding models from Ohio Model And Talent with hair and makeup by Crazy Mullets and Savvy Salon.  Tyler Mills of FDZ Clothing offered to DJ for the show as we showcased great boutiques and clothing lines. The styles seen were provided by: Banyan Tree, Dredgers Union, Brigade, Turnstyle, Bodek & Rhodes, indiemerchstore, Independent Trading Company, Shelf Life Clothing, Strhess Clothing, Stheart, iLTHY, FDZ Clothing, Western Evil and Angapunk.

Music

The live music stage — hosted by our emcees Brad Robinson and Michael “Bruzzie” Nassif of the Fuzzy Stones — kept things jamming. Local bands BattleStar, Two Hand Fools, Ultra Ultra, Cypher, Burger Boys and Megachurch showed that the Cleveland music scene is never dull. All of the six bands that played contained Jakprints employees as members!

Bicycles

If you rode your bike to the event with Joy Machines Bike Shop and Crank Set Rides, you know we offered a free bike valet throughout the day. A special thanks to Ohio City Whips for braving the hot sun and heat while keeping our bikes safe!  The Pedal Republik of Cleveland showed us what bike polo is all about, with pick-up games against rival teams from Pittsburgh and Columbus. They were also happy to give beginner lessons to whoever was interested.

Charity + Raffle

The excitement was palpable as we raffled off over 50 different and amazing prizes throughout the day. When it was all said and done, we raised $4,000 for our sponsor charities MidTown Cleveland and Community Greenhouse Partners. The food trucks also raised charity donations — StrEat Mobile Bistro raised $100 for the Cleveland Food Bank; Umami Moto raised $100 for the Berea Animal Rescue Fund; and Dim And Den Sum raised $75 for the Goodwill Industries Of Greater Cleveland. Together, we emptied 27 kegs of beer and had zero injuries!  If you donated a raffle prize, manned a table, took photos or helped out in anyway we are extremely grateful! If you were there to enjoy the day we hope you had as much fun as we did!

Escape to New York, the three-day party and music festival happened Friday August 5th and was scheduled to run till Sunday Aug. 7th but due to rain Sunday was called off. Held at the Shinnecock Native American Reservation, this one of a kind event featured bands such as Patti Smith, The Psychedelic Furs and Best Coast. Installation and performance art, experimental theater, high-end glamorous camping “Glamping”, the world’s biggest brunch, culinary delights and traditional Shinnecock arts and crafts. Escape to New York is unlike any event on the east coast. It all began with the planting of a seed and similar to the UK’s Secret Garden Party, growing into a truly amazing and fun interactive event.

Jakprints was proud to help out with the design and printing needs for this years event.

These parking passes are 3.5 x 8.5 inch door hangers. Printed on 12pt gloss cardstock.

Digital Fusion Name Badge, printed on cloth and cut into various die cut shapes

Example of how these were worn and used during the fest.

Shirts, Lanyards and everything pictured above are great examples of materials we can produce not only for major festivals but for your event, concert or party to give it that professional look. We are excited we had the opportunity to work with Escape To New York and look forward to next year’s event! For photos and and video from this year head over to www.escape2ny.com

Sprawled out on the lawn waiting for the next band to set up

Ice Cream Man’s truck open for business

The Smith Westerns were a much talked about band leading up to the fest

Perryetty vs. Chris Cox featuring Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell

A Perfect Circle were another band everybody was buzzing about after their set

The mud pit that was Chicago’s Grant Park

Lending a helping hand up the mud hill while others slide down

Others opted for mother nature’s stadium seating

Ratatat’s light show and background videos set their performance apart from the rest.

Coldplay closed out Friday night with a stunning performance.

With another festival in the books organizers are looking forward to next year and so are we! For live videos from this years performers head over to the official Lollapalooza You tube channel. For all photos from the festival check out the Lollapalooza Flickr page!

The solution was setting up a series of iPad kiosks to help guide visitors through the show. But first guests must choose which avatar to explore and take a tag with the coordinating image on it, that’s where we came into play.

Jeremiah Boncha a graphic designer at the museum and long time Jakprints customer suggested they use Favicards to print the avatar images on. After the pieces were printed, cut and rounded corners were added we placed a 3/16″ drill hole in the top left corner and attached an elastic band. Allowing visitors to place their specific card around their wrist as they explored the avatar they chose.

These excellent avatars were illustrated by Sanjay Patel you can find more of his stunning work here: http://www.gheehappy.com

These bins contain all the different avatars to choose from. Visitors are encouraged to explore as many as they would like. This fascinating exhibit is currently open and runs through October 2nd at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in Brooklyn, NY. For more information you can check out http://www.brooklynmuseum.org

Lollapalooza is celebrating it’s 20th anniversary and Jakprints will be there to catch all the action. Similar to Pitchfork this 3 day festival will take place in Chicago August 5th-7th and once again we’ll be teaming up with the Ice Cream Man to pass out free tasty treats to fans attending the event.

Lollapalaooza has come a long way, but one thing stays constant: the festival is for the fans. What started as a tour in 1991 has now firmly planted its feet on the grounds of grant park. Since Lollapalooza’s comeback in 2005 the festival has continued to grow bigger every year. Now spanning over 115 acres, multiple stages, and a even more diverse lineup of 130+ artists from hip-hop, electronica, reggae, indie, rock, modern roots, and many more.

Eminem, Foo Fighters, Deftones, Muse and Coldplay are a few of the acts set to play this year’s festival. Lollapalooza is not just a music festival it’s also a place where fans can park their bike, grab some gourmet food at Chow Town, check out the farmers market and shop for handmade goods and crafts.

Tickets for this years event have already SOLD OUT. But don’t fret you can catch a live stream of this year’s performances on the Lollapalooza You Tube page! We’ll be posting a wrap up of the event with tons of photos!

Straight Line Stitch played to a packed crowd.

Fans lining up to catch and autograph and meet the band after their set.

Straight Line Stitch and our friends at Indiemerchstore teamed up for this event.

Straight Line Stitch vocalist Alexis Brown and drummer Kanky Lora greeting fans at their booth.

The Jagermeister Stage was jamming all day as well

The Revolver booth has tons to give away to eager fans. They could even take their chance at the “Hammer of the Gods” game pictured to the left.

Inside the Revolver booth

Who doesn’t like a free taco? Our friends at Music Saves Lives agree with us!

We had a great time hanging out in the sun and head banging to some great bands. If you’re a fan of metal this is the tour you must see! For more information including tour dates and where to purchase tickets check out rockstarmayhemfest.com